Sat, 31 Oct • 01:00 PM
NavratriEvents in San Francisco 2026
San Francisco's Navratri looks different from the South Bay version. In the city itself you will mostly find club and venue dandiya nights with DJs mixing garba and Bollywood, hall events run by Indian associations, and temple aarti evenings, while the large traditional raas-garba floors with live orchestras are down in Fremont, Milpitas, Santa Clara and San Jose. Plenty of people in San Francisco pick one club night here and one proper garba night across the bay. Tickets are online for nearly everything, and the Saturday club nights in San Francisco sell out in advance while hall events cap by capacity. Hall floors are socks or bare feet, club nights are not, so check before you choose footwear. October evenings in the city are cold and often foggy, so carry a jacket over your outfit. BART and Muni run late enough for city venues, but a South Bay garba means a car or a very early last train. See the listings below.
Listings updated
Garba Events in San Francisco
Warm up for garba
Get the beat in your feet before the first night in San Francisco: Spotify’s Garba Nights, from dhol-heavy folk classics to the songs every circle dances to.
More Navratri events around San Francisco
Sat, 7 Nov • 09:00 PM
Kali Pujo in Fremont
Sun, 8 Nov • 06:00 PM
Prothoma Kali Puja 2026
Fri, 20 Nov • 07:00 PM
Devuthani Ekadashi Khatu Shyam Ji’s Janamutsav including Bhajan Sandhya
Before you dance
The story of Navratri
Nine nights, a goddess, two demons and one very big bonfire.
01The boon
A demon no god could kill
Mahishasura, the buffalo demon, won a boon: no man and no god could kill him. Fearless, he stormed the heavens and drove the gods from their thrones.
02The goddess
Durga rises from their light
So the gods poured their powers into one blaze, and from it rose Durga. Each gave her a weapon — Shiva his trident, Vishnu his discus — and the mountains gave her a lion.
03Nine nights
Nine nights, then victory
For nine nights she fought him as he changed shape — buffalo, lion, elephant, man — and each night of Navratri honours one of her nine forms. On the tenth, Vijayadashami, she struck him down: good over evil.
04The Ramayana
Rama prays to the goddess
Ravana carried Sita away to Lanka. In one telling, Rama worshipped Durga for her blessing before the war — then crossed the sea to bring Sita home.
05Dussehra
The ten-headed king falls
Rama's arrow brought down Ravana on the same tenth day. That is why the festival's last day is Dussehra too: one victory, told twice.
06Today
Ravana goes up in fireworks
Across north India, towering paper Ravanas are packed with crackers and lit at dusk on Dussehra — and the crowd cheers as evil burns.
And that is why we dance
Garba circles the garbo — a clay lamp, the goddess’s light at the centre of life — and the circle never stops, like time. The dandiya sticks are said to be her swords, clashing in the battle all over again.
Upcoming Navratri garba events in San Francisco
| Date | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 🪔 *SRI CHAKRA NAVAVARANA POOJA* *& DEVI LALITHA SUVASINI POOJA* | 255 San Geronimo Way, Sunnyvale |